"At the principal’s office, I’d always defend my point by claiming,'That’s art. I am an artist.”

CESAR LEVY

Sweet Nightmares: What are you currently working on?

Cesar: I’m working on a series based on hands. Most of them are going to be in big format. It’s hands making signs of different type, praying hands, hands making a heart, hands meditating. I just finished a piece, 72' by 36', huge. I loved it. It put me in a different mood when I’m painting the hands. I feel more relaxed. I’m expressing something different that is not The Tragic Innocence. It is less in your face. You use your hands for everything. Any little gesture means so much. I love how powerful hands are to communicate.

SN: What is the typical process for a Cesar Levy piece?

C: I’d say it’s pretty common process. I get the idea, I write it down on my phone or a piece of paper, then I start sketching. Most of the time I don’t do more than two sketches. It’s pretty simple. I do my colour study on the canvas. I don’t really mark colours in my sketchbook. Colours come on the canvas.

SN: Do you enjoy working on larger formats as opposed to smaller sizes?

C: I do enjoy working on smaller stuff, but I enjoy the result of a larger piece more. When I finish a larger format, I feel great. It’s a big achievement. It takes so long and so much more work than working on a smaller piece, it makes the process so different.

SN: Were you exposed to a lot of art as a kid?

C: I was exposed to art as a kid, my dad was a painter. He is not an artist, but he’s a painter. He paints landscapes, streets of old towns, beach scenes. Since I was a kid, I remember my dad painting. I would give him art stuff, wooden pallettes, brushes, so I was really exposed to it.

SN: Were you known as the class artist in school?

C: I was drawing all the time. I got in trouble a few times because I started drawing the teacher doing funny stuff, nothing really offensive or sexual, but I’d draw her as a fat lady with pig ears. Actually, I guess that’s offensive.

SN: Were you ever caught?

C: Only once. At the principal’s office, I’d always defend my point by claiming, “That’s art. I am an artist.”

SN: Do you feel, as you get older, does it become more difficult to portray the world as you once saw it?

C: No, the opposite. Because I’m older, I’m wiser, I have more experience. My perception as a young kid was purely from that perspective, I didn’t know shit. What's around me? When you’re older, you have all this experience. Even love. You see love in another way. It’s not the same as when you’re a teen, or when you’re 21. You see it a lot more realistically. It’s not always beautiful. It can be harsh and dark, and take you through horrible times. I can express a lot more now.

SN: What do you hope your art achieves in viewer’s minds?​C: More than hoping, they’re going to take it with them. I work really hard to make sure they will. Especially with The Tragic Innocence, I work on my images in two ways. The first way is, I work with colours. I make these bright, beautiful colours that compliment each other, the harmony that takes people’s attention right away. I want them to take the reality of it, even if it looks cartoonish or unrealistic, it’s definitely a message saying, "Hey, our kids are playing with guns." Last year, too many kids died in this nation because they played with guns. ​

SN: Do you paint the world as you see it or as you would like to see it?

C: As I see it.

SN: Why is The Tragic Innocence so important to you?

C: Kids are capable to do the craziest things you can imagine. You find the most bizarre stories that kids do just because they’re kids. They’re curious. That curiosity moves them to do the most outrageous things. It was a turning point in my art work when I started painting something really different. It was a complete turn in my career as an artist. More than anything else I’ve worked on, it really gives me pleasure. When people go up to the wall and it really grabs their mind, they're in shock. They laugh. They hate it. They love it. ​It's all the same to me. I really love it. ​

SN: What’s your favourite painting that you’ve done? Something that came out exactly as you saw it in your mind’s eye?​C: Grandpa’s Ghost Costume in the Attic. It was like a wave of perfection even when I started it.

Favourite colour?Black.

Music to paint to?Traditional Japanese music.

Movie you’ll never get tired of?The original Old Boy. Aliens. Die Hard.

What would you do without art?I don’t know. I think art, it really… Maybe I would... I don’t know.I’d go mad and kill everybody. ​So I'd probably be a serial killer.

We took a trip to Cesar's studio in Los Angeles and found quite the treasure of collectibles: